We all do. All you can do is use the time you have, or make up for any time lost. And the circumstances, well, they're almost always out of our control when it's about our families.
( Not anyone's parents she's ever personally known. Maybe Stephanie Salvatore's in a sideways life, but they earned their 'have it together happy ending' and Hope doesn't know them in this one. While she loves her mother and has complicated feelings toward her father, he was trying - harder with every year.
But they are no less complicated. )
I don't know. My parents are both alive and I still had my dad's ex-girlfriend out to kill me.
Our world was always going to be there for him, but not at eighteen years old.
( Not at twenty-one. A decision like this never should have been his. He was the younger brother. His sister inherited the staff. But, his sister became collateral damage. )
[In fact, Isaac knows Bonnie is one of the few adults he does trust. But given what he remembers about some supernatural parental figures he's met, he gives her hand a soft tug to pull her back before they get off.]
The fact that you want to find a different way for him? Sometimes that's enough. It's more than some of the people we expect to protect us do for us.
( That nothing will be enough. But, she lets that thought fly away as she pulls Isaac close. She thanks him with a kiss before stopping the elevator door from closing. )
[And caring isn't bad, even if that's a lesson Isaac's had to learn the hard way. But with that they will make their way up the rest of the way and knock on the door where they will also be greeted by Alice.
[Mostly because it's really nice not to be in a school run by her dad, and with everyone knowing the school is run by her dad. She's just another student at Tulane, and she's relishing the attempt to simply be herself.
It's nice.]
From what I've heard, you've been on a lot of road trips.
("She's good people," Lizzie says, confidently, mouthing a thank you.
Everyone takes their places, Bonnie and Josie closest to Alice in proximity, everyone else paired off, Hope grounding Danny, sitting cross-legged behind him. Bonnie begins her chant for balance, grabbing Josie's hand.
(Bonnie, 8, still smarting from her magic rearrangeement. Hope, 9, concentrating more for Danny than the integrity of the spell. Lizzie nat 20) )
[Josie too attempts to hold it steady (9), but her magic is not her own, so she's just trying to channel in the power and hope for the best.
But in the end, it all comes down to Danny. And Danny, as good as his intentions are, is not in a great place and it comes out through the magic, unfortunately (1). The second the ritual begins, he feels his confidence plummet out from under him.
He can feel Lizzie's determination and support buoying him, but it's more than he deserves, since this isn't supposed to be him. It was never supposed to be him. How can he be so self-centered to think that he's the person his people need? Just because he's the last resort? Just because they have no other choice.
This should have been Bridget and in this moment he misses his sister so much that he can feel a tear leaking from the corner of his eye. He misses his parents, who should have been here to support him. He tries to swallow the sadness back and focus on the matter at hand, but the ritual tips, and he can hear himself floundering.
He reaches for the power, the part that's supposed to come to him easily, and his fingers slip against the edges of the spell. His fingers scramble, trying to maintain his grip. And before he can right himself, something else is there, suddenly, something dark and clawing and prepared to tear him away, to keep him from stealing what someone else feels belongs to them.
The spectre comes at him, clawing at his shirt, his shoulders, attempting to pull him back and keep him from moving forward. He tries to summon some of the power Sierra gave him to push back, but without the confidence to wield it, it doesn't come. The spectre pushes back again, and the one hand he had clinging to the edges of the spell pulls, tearing back the corner like a jagged edge.
And the magic doesn't come to him, it starts to run like a garden hose, gushing out into the world, and the minute it combines with the magic of the ritual, Danny knows this is going to go too wrong.
The two powers collide, and everything blows outward in a band of white.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
cosmiccon) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
everyonelives2023-01-03 09:05 pm
no subject
I wish I could have had more time, and this had been under better circumstances.
[Not trying to run out the clock on the Colony trying to steal it from him.]
no subject
( Especially with families like theirs. )
no subject
[Danny wasn't terrible about handling his business, but he's never been trusted with something with this much responsibility.]
I wish they were here. But then I guess if they were here, I wouldn't be here, doing this.
no subject
( Not anyone's parents she's ever personally known. Maybe Stephanie Salvatore's in a sideways life, but they earned their 'have it together happy ending' and Hope doesn't know them in this one. While she loves her mother and has complicated feelings toward her father, he was trying - harder with every year.
But they are no less complicated. )
I don't know. My parents are both alive and I still had my dad's ex-girlfriend out to kill me.
no subject
Is that better or worse than your family's ex-coven?
[He assumes it's likely much more personal.]
no subject
( "Aurora was driven mad by the men in her life," Lizzie starts. "No offense." )
She went on a crusade to kill my dad and then me, I think leaving her in a sleeping spell was tame.
( "She sacrificed herself in the end," Lizzie points out. )
After pledging her loyalty to a god. I'm not trying to rework the feminist narrative here, but she had a lot of undiagnosed issues.
no subject
I think that's probably true of a lot of vampires. There's probably a good number of the older set that could benefit greatly from therapy.
[Most people could. Even him, but especially older vampires with too much life to process.]
But it certainly sounds like she was complicated.
no subject
( Downstairs, Bonnie hits the button to the elevator to get to the top floor to then take the stairs to the roof.
"Isaac, do you think this is only going to get worse for him?" )
no subject
[Worse is a relative scale though. Maybe yes, even with his direct competition conceding the game. Maybe no. But it's not going to go away.]
Our world isn't really designed to be easy. But worse is relative.
no subject
( Not at twenty-one. A decision like this never should have been his. He was the younger brother. His sister inherited the staff. But, his sister became collateral damage. )
I wish I could do something.
no subject
[He will reach over and take her hand, trying to provide some reassurance, even if he's not sure it's very reassuring.]
And you can still help him and have him learn from your experience. But you can't take this on for him.
no subject
( And it was thrust on her at an even earlier age. )
He knows I'll be there for him.
( The elevator dings. )
no subject
[In fact, Isaac knows Bonnie is one of the few adults he does trust. But given what he remembers about some supernatural parental figures he's met, he gives her hand a soft tug to pull her back before they get off.]
The fact that you want to find a different way for him? Sometimes that's enough. It's more than some of the people we expect to protect us do for us.
no subject
( That nothing will be enough. But, she lets that thought fly away as she pulls Isaac close. She thanks him with a kiss before stopping the elevator door from closing. )
no subject
[And caring isn't bad, even if that's a lesson Isaac's had to learn the hard way. But with that they will make their way up the rest of the way and knock on the door where they will also be greeted by Alice.
"Who are you?"
Isaac squints back at her.]
Who are you?
no subject
( She just assumes at this point and she's used to Isaac's snark first approach. She always smooths it over. She doesn't mind. )
I'm Bonnie, Danny's - I'm here for Danny. And this is Isaac.
no subject
She steps back to let them both in, and Isaac is still squinting at her, because he does not know why she's important. Danny sighs.
"She's Lizzie's roommate. And an Earp."
Isaac blinks blankly (7).]
Is that supposed to mean something?
no subject
( She gives 'He means well,' eyes to the group. )
Hey girls.
( She pulls Hope in for a hug and then Josie next. )
How's college life?
no subject
[Mostly because it's really nice not to be in a school run by her dad, and with everyone knowing the school is run by her dad. She's just another student at Tulane, and she's relishing the attempt to simply be herself.
It's nice.]
From what I've heard, you've been on a lot of road trips.
no subject
( "You brought Isaac," Lizzie says, giving her a playful look. )
Isaac came with me. We brought friends of his but they aren't here. Speaking of who is here --
( "Isaac," Lizzie says again. )
This is everyone, right? Is everything ready, Danny?
no subject
[He looks back over the setup and the candles one last time before turning back to the witches around him, plus their special guests.]
All we have to do is cast it.
no subject
no subject
[She knows how this goes. She gives them all a thumbs up as she shifts her shotgun up onto her shoulder.]
You focus on your spell stuff. I got this.
no subject
( "She's good people," Lizzie says, confidently, mouthing a thank you.
Everyone takes their places, Bonnie and Josie closest to Alice in proximity, everyone else paired off, Hope grounding Danny, sitting cross-legged behind him. Bonnie begins her chant for balance, grabbing Josie's hand.
(Bonnie, 8, still smarting from her magic rearrangeement. Hope, 9, concentrating more for Danny than the integrity of the spell. Lizzie nat 20) )
no subject
But in the end, it all comes down to Danny. And Danny, as good as his intentions are, is not in a great place and it comes out through the magic, unfortunately (1). The second the ritual begins, he feels his confidence plummet out from under him.
He can feel Lizzie's determination and support buoying him, but it's more than he deserves, since this isn't supposed to be him. It was never supposed to be him. How can he be so self-centered to think that he's the person his people need? Just because he's the last resort? Just because they have no other choice.
This should have been Bridget and in this moment he misses his sister so much that he can feel a tear leaking from the corner of his eye. He misses his parents, who should have been here to support him. He tries to swallow the sadness back and focus on the matter at hand, but the ritual tips, and he can hear himself floundering.
He reaches for the power, the part that's supposed to come to him easily, and his fingers slip against the edges of the spell. His fingers scramble, trying to maintain his grip. And before he can right himself, something else is there, suddenly, something dark and clawing and prepared to tear him away, to keep him from stealing what someone else feels belongs to them.
The spectre comes at him, clawing at his shirt, his shoulders, attempting to pull him back and keep him from moving forward. He tries to summon some of the power Sierra gave him to push back, but without the confidence to wield it, it doesn't come. The spectre pushes back again, and the one hand he had clinging to the edges of the spell pulls, tearing back the corner like a jagged edge.
And the magic doesn't come to him, it starts to run like a garden hose, gushing out into the world, and the minute it combines with the magic of the ritual, Danny knows this is going to go too wrong.
The two powers collide, and everything blows outward in a band of white.]